WEBVTT Kind: captions; Language: en 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:19.000 Wagon wheels, wagon 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:24.001 wheels, keep one another in 00:00:24.001 --> 00:00:28.000 wagon wheels. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:35.001 Roll along, sing your song, 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:42.000 carry me over the hill. 00:00:43.001 --> 00:00:48.001 Roll along, you there's a steamer and... 00:01:01.001 --> 00:01:03.000 What's wrong with this picture? 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:08.001 A covered wagon on a modern boulevard is on a place, old-fashioned transportation 00:01:08.001 --> 00:01:10.001 on a modern highway. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.001 Here is another picture that has something wrong with it, modern transportation 00:01:16.001 --> 00:01:18.000 on an old-fashioned highway. 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:26.000 The common everyday spectacle of modern traffic on roads that are as out of 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:27.001 date as the covered wagon. 00:01:28.001 --> 00:01:33.001 Early automobiles were built for one purpose, transportation from place to place. 00:01:34.001 --> 00:01:39.000 But from plane utility, engineering features have developed through the years. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.001 Ease and comfort of travel have advanced with the power and speed 00:01:44.001 --> 00:01:46.001 of up-to-date motor cars. 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:51.000 Cars have been designed with improved pickup for passing with greater 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:53.000 safety on narrow roads. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:58.000 They have been built with extra power and speed enough for even the 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:00.000 best roads built today. 00:02:01.001 --> 00:02:07.000 Cars today have been designed to ride comfortably, even on the bad roads we still 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:11.001 have, because they can absorb the bumps without disturbing the passengers. 00:02:12.001 --> 00:02:16.000 They can stop quickly and safely on any road. 00:02:17.001 --> 00:02:21.001 Cars have progressed, but many roads have stood still. 00:02:22.001 --> 00:02:27.000 Roads that are not so modern as the traffic they carry cause congestion. 00:02:27.001 --> 00:02:33.001 Congested city streets hinder and delay the movement of traffic, cause confusion 00:02:33.001 --> 00:02:35.000 at busy, crowded corners. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:42.000 The careful driver realizes that he cannot drive on out-of-date roads in the same 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:45.001 way that he can safely drive on our finest highways. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:51.000 On roads like these, we slow down and avoid the hazards of blind crossings. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:54.001 We drive cautiously at railroad crossings. 00:02:55.001 --> 00:03:00.000 By limiting our speed to the condition of the road, we reduce the hazards 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:01.001 of such out-of-date roads. 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:06.000 No highway is the place for reckless speed. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:10.001 The driver who must race should do his driving on a race track. 00:03:12.001 --> 00:03:13.001 Roads are getting better. 00:03:14.001 --> 00:03:17.001 Many highways have been designed to eliminate dangers and delays. 00:03:19.001 --> 00:03:24.000 In almost every city and county in the United States, great progress in road 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:29.001 building is being made by the highway engineers and public-spirited citizens who 00:03:29.001 --> 00:03:35.000 realize the great contribution that improved highways are making to 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:37.000 progress and safety. 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:42.000 Roads have been engineered that are as safe as the modern automobile. 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:47.001 Wide, straight roads with special lanes reserved for passing have been laid out 00:03:47.001 --> 00:03:51.001 so that thousands of motorists can drive on them in heavy traffic swiftly 00:03:51.001 --> 00:03:53.001 with comfort and safety. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:01.000 Curves have been scientifically banked to make the car hold a road easily at 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:02.001 usual driving speeds. 00:04:03.001 --> 00:04:06.000 Lighting experts have contributed their study of the problem 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:08.000 of lighting street intersections. 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:12.001 Many highways have been lighted with new and improved methods. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:17.001 Roads that have already been built can be widened and made safer. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:23.000 The state of New Jersey uses firewalls to spread apart these 500 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:24.001 -ton slabs of concrete. 00:04:25.001 --> 00:04:31.000 The moving is repeated until a wide space between the slabs separates traffic 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:35.000 into lanes with a landscaped parkway strip in the center. 00:04:35.001 --> 00:04:40.000 Parkways separate traffic going in opposite directions into smoothly 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:42.000 moving one-way streams. 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:48.000 In the city, too, advances in road construction bring about savings in time 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:50.000 and the elimination of trouble. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:56.000 On the ground, we can see what modern roads mean to our own comfort and safety. 00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:02.000 From the air, the modern road builders can see what such improvements can mean 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:04.000 in mass handling of cars. 00:05:04.001 --> 00:05:10.000 We can see from the air how the wide, straight, smooth-surfaced highway keeps 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.001 both passenger and commercial traffic moving. 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:19.000 We can see how highways with separate lanes for traffic speed 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:20.001 all motorists on their way. 00:05:21.001 --> 00:05:26.001 Every such advance in road construction makes possible greater accessibility of 00:05:26.001 --> 00:05:30.000 the farms with greater freedom for tourists and trailers. 00:05:30.001 --> 00:05:33.001 Heavy trucks are able to move on the highways 00:05:33.001 --> 00:05:35.001 without interfering with other traffic. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:41.001 Where highways cross, rotary traffic circles have been designed. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:46.000 Such designs enable cars approaching from all directions to make 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:48.000 turns without confusion. 00:05:48.001 --> 00:05:53.001 And even at very complex intersections, new types of circles keep cars moving 00:05:53.001 --> 00:05:55.001 with speed and safety. 00:05:55.001 --> 00:06:00.001 The four-leaf clover design handles heavy traffic at intersections. 00:06:01.001 --> 00:06:06.000 The cloverleaf eliminates left-hand turns where two full streams of traffic 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:08.000 cut across each other. 00:06:09.001 --> 00:06:13.001 Variations of the cloverleaf have been developed at congested corners. 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:19.001 In the country, separating intersecting thoroughfares by overhead bridges at the 00:06:19.001 --> 00:06:22.000 crossing points makes for safety. 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:27.000 Because one road is elevated above the other, through highway 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:28.001 crossings have been made safe. 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:34.000 While in the city, grade separation means a smooth flow of traffic at 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:35.001 even the busiest hours. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:40.000 The elimination of railroad grade crossings has been one of the most 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:41.001 important safety developments. 00:06:42.001 --> 00:06:46.001 Railroad underpasses have proved their value in saving time and lives 00:06:46.001 --> 00:06:48.000 wherever they have been built. 00:06:49.001 --> 00:06:55.000 A network of roads and underpasses leading to the George Washington Bridge across 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:58.000 the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey greatly 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:00.000 simplifies the handling of traffic. 00:07:00.001 --> 00:07:05.000 Bridge approaches are wide enough to carry traffic volumes not only for 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:07.000 today, but for years to come. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:13.000 Modern bridges are strong enough and wide enough to carry traffic streams far 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:15.000 heavier than those of the average road. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:21.000 The new bridges, such as the Tri-Burl Bridge at New York, will do away with the 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:24.001 bottlenecks of traffic and free drivers from delay over 00:07:24.001 --> 00:07:26.000 miles of approaching roads. 00:07:27.001 --> 00:07:32.001 The Pulaski Aerial Skyway from Jersey City to Newark, New Jersey carries 00:07:32.001 --> 00:07:34.000 thousands of cars a day. 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:40.000 Highways like this at Alexandria in Louisiana are the road builder's answer to 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:42.001 the advancements made by automobile engineers. 00:07:42.001 --> 00:07:48.000 With these new highways come new advances in engineering, new standards of 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:54.000 comfort, new records of economy, and above all, the savings of man's greatest 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:55.001 asset, time. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:01.000 Throughout the United States, the American public has shown its interest in 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:02.001 the work of improving the highway. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:09.000 We must all encourage the road builders of today who have given us new roads on 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:12.001 the ground, contributing so much to public safety. 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:19.000 New roads over the ground, adding to the usefulness of the entire road system. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:26.000 New roads under the water, saving time for the motorists, and new roads over the 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:31.001 water to keep America's safety record the finest in the world.